Robbie Keane has issued a defiant response to growing criticism over his
contribution to the Republic of Ireland’s campaign by claiming he needs
better service to end his five-game goal drought against Spain on Thursday
night.

Fighting his corner: Ireland striker Robbie Keane could play as a lone striker against SpainPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

Having suffered a 3-1 defeat against Croatia in Poznan on Sunday, Republic of Ireland must avoid defeat against the world and European champions in Gdansk this evening to avoid being eliminated from Euro 2012.

Giovanni Trapattoni’s players go into the game ranked as 11-1 outsiders by bookmakers to claim a shock victory against Spain, odds which are unlikely to be shortened by any confidence in Keane ending his barren run, which dates back to two goals scored against Estonia in Tallinn last November.

The 31 year-old, Ireland’s record goalscorer with 53 goals in 118 appearances, will not be dropped by Trapattoni for the game, despite impressive performances by Jonathan Walters and Shane Long in the build-up to Euro 2012.

But with Kevin Doyle likely to make way for Walters in the starting line-up, Keane is expected to be deployed as a lone striker, ahead of Walters, with Trapattoni aiming to bolster the Irish midfield against the likes of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and David Silva.

Keane’s run without a goal is now his longest at international level since going eight games without scoring between 2000 and 2001, but the LA Galaxy forward insists the issue is a collective one, rather than his own lack of form.

“In the game against Croatia, we weren’t getting much as a team.” Keane said. “We weren’t creating too many chances for ourselves and you can only score goals if you’re getting opportunities.

“That wasn’t the case the other day. As a group of players, we didn’t do enough to create chances. Am I happy with my form? Yes. You try to play as well as you can and do your best for the team.

“There’s only one game gone, though, and we have a couple more left. Hopefully we can get a couple of opportunities against Spain, or against Italy, and I can take them.”

Keane, whose position in the team has become a matter of debate in Ireland along similar lines to the questions raised about David Beckham’s contribution to England during Sven-Goran Eriksson’s reign, retains Trapattoni’s support.

The Italian coach insists that Keane is “very important” for his “personality and experience”. Trapattoni has also compared Keane to Roma’s former Italy forward Francesco Totti. But with the prospect of a more isolated role against Spain, Keane insists he is prepared to make sacrifices for the team as they face their biggest challenge under Trapattoni.

“If I play as a lone striker, it’s something that I’ve certainly done plenty of times before.” Keane said. “It’s obviously different to what I’m used to doing, but it’s something that I enjoy doing.

“If the manager does decide to do that, it’s something I’ll be happy to do for the team. He is going to make certain changes according to the game. But if we get a result against Spain, it would certainly be up there in terms of the best moments of my career. Everybody seems to have written us off.” Although Spain started Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Italy in the PGE Arena without a recognised forward — Cesc Fabregas was deployed as the ‘false’ nine — Trapattoni expects Fernando Torres or Fernando Llorente to be selected as a striker by Vicente del Bosque.

Torres, shorn of form and belief, struggled to impress as a substitute against Italy, but Del Bosque insists he retains full confidence in Torres and his other forwards, despite overlooking all of them in his team against Italy.

“We trust all three of our attackers,” Del Bosque said. “All of them will do everything for the team. Sometimes it is a question of tactics, but we are really confident with our attackers, that’s why we brought them here.

“You cannot pick everybody, even if you want to. But against Italy, I wanted Fabregas to cover Andrea Pirlo, who is a great player, and he did that very well.”

Del Bosque’s insistence that he is “worried” about Ireland’s aerial strengths, fighting spirit and aggression highlighted the concerns within the Spain camp that Ireland are capable of making life difficult in Gdansk.

Spain’s concerns over the state of the pitch and desire to have it watered also betray a sense of unease among the world champions and Trapattoni admits that he and his team are capable of playing on Spanish fears.

Trapattoni said: “Over a season, the best team wins, but in 90 minutes, anything is possible. In the last Champions League final, Bayern Munich was the favourite, they had 17 corners compared to Chelsea’s one, but Chelsea won the cup.

“We have the same attitude, mentality and commitment. Technically we may not be the best, but I think we can win. Why not?”